Last Night on Earth
by Sailor Moonac
Summary: On the eve of the Ceremonial Duel, Atem pulls Yugi into his soul room to show him his past memories of living in Egypt as Pharaoh. Resolving to move on without any regrets, Atem reveals to Yugi the extent of their bond and his love for him. Puzzleshipping


**Author's Note: **This is set on the eve of the final Ceremonial duel between Yami Yugi/Atem and Yugi when they are both figuring out what cards should go in their respective decks. Notes on this one-shot are at the end of the story, but know that I use Yugi's and Yami Yugi's way of referring to each other in Japanese. Translating that into English, I thought would sound weird, so just know that 'aibou' means 'partner' (Yami Yugi referring to Yugi) and 'mou hitori no boku' literally means 'the other me' (Yugi referring to Yami Yugi).

**Warning: **This is a **mature rated one-shot ** between Yami Yugi/Atem and Yugi. Oh, and it's ridiculously long too at 22 pages and nearly 12,000 words.

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Last Night on Earth

By: Sailor Moonac

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"It's done," declared Yugi as he drew his golden Millennium box towards him to deposit his finished deck inside. Sealing the lid on the box, Yugi released a heavy sigh as he leaned back into his seat.

"Is it ready, aibou? Your deck?" asked the spirit of the once nameless Pharaoh as he appeared beside Yugi.

"Mou hitori no boku." Yugi stood up to face the ancient spirit, noting briefly the once large difference in height between the two was much smaller after all of those years together. "I'm not going to be ready until you're finished your deck, so I'll wait for you."

"Ah," agreed the Pharaoh. "As a duellist, I can't look at an opponent's deck to gain an advantage...and thank you for taking this last challenge."

Yugi nodded, looking up to the taller spirit. "Yeah, I'll do my best with what power I have to defeat you."

"Yeah," answered the Pharaoh, feeling the strength of Yugi's determination between the bond of the Millennium Puzzle, the bond that may soon come to an end by the next day.

"Well then, it's time for you to make your deck. But be careful!" warned Yugi playfully. "I _know _ you, so therefore I know your weaknesses and have a strategy to counter you. You better be careful or I could really hurt you! Because I'm duelling you from the bottom of my heart! Now for you—" began Yugi as he wrapped both hands around the puzzle hanging from his neck.

"Wait, aibou!" The Pharaoh grabbed Yugi by the shoulder, stopping Yugi before he transformed. Yugi turned to the spirit beside him, confusion written on his face. The ancient spirit smiled at Yugi reassuringly before releasing his shoulder. The Pharaoh briefly glanced at his ghostly hand before clenching it into a fist. Tomorrow, the Pharaoh reflected, he would be able to feel Yugi for real instead of the faint feeling of pressure every time he touched him. And tomorrow may be the last time he saw Yugi.

"Mou hitori no boku?"

The ancient spirit shook his head and relaxed his fist. "If you win the duel tomorrow—and you have a very good chance to do so—I will be returning to the spirit world. If I win, I will remain trapped in the Millennium Puzzle, and I will not be able to seal away the Millennium Items for good." The Pharaoh closed his eyes feeling the heavy weight of his fate pressing against him.

"Mou hitori no boku..."

"I want you to win Yugi. I want you to win because I _need_ to seal away these dangerous items forever," said the Pharaoh as he took a hold of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. Releasing the puzzle to fall against his chest, the Pharaoh opened his eyes to see Yugi had copied his action and he too was holding the puzzle in his hand. The Pharaoh released a heavy sigh as he closed his eyes again and looked skyward towards the heaven, wondering whether or not he would be able to see Yugi again in the next life.

"Tonight, may quite possibly be my last night on Earth. And there's something I want to share with you before you become the only 'Yugi' again."

"Mou hitori no boku, you—"

The Pharaoh interrupted Yugi by holding out one hand to Yugi. "You trust me, don't you, aibou?"

"Of course," answered Yugi without a pause. Clenching one hand tightly around the puzzle around his neck, Yugi placed his other hand in the palms of his darker half and closed his eyes as light enveloped him from their connected hands. Yugi felt the familiar pull of being transported deep within his mind as his senses swirled and the sounds of the boat and the ocean faded away. The floor disappeared from under his feet and Yugi felt himself float for a few moments before his feet felt solid ground again. Opening his eyes, Yugi saw he and the now solid form of the ancient Pharaoh were standing in the corridor between their soul rooms. Yugi glanced to his left, seeing his own childish soul room with familiar toys scattered all around the floor.

The Pharaoh brushed past Yugi and stopped just outside of Yugi's soul room. "It's changed."

"What? It has?" Yugi stepped up beside his darker half. Seeing his other half nod, Yugi asked, "How? Is that bad?"

"No, not at all. Look there." The formerly nameless Pharaoh pointed to a desk that was previously absent from Yugi's soul room. On the desk were several books and stacks of Duel Monster cards, along with scattered sheets of paper that appeared to have math problems.

Yugi walked into his soul room and stepped around his toys to reach the desk. Picking up the first the card on a stack of Duel Monster cards, Yugi turned it over to reveal the Silent Magician. "Huh. And this is...?" asked Yugi as he picked up a sheet of math problems. "My math homework? That's weird."

"No, I don't think so." Yugi's darker half stepped up beside Yugi and turned over another card on another stack of cards. It was the Black Magician. The Pharaoh smiled as he handed it to Yugi. "This desk wasn't here before, years ago when I first peered into your soul room. This desk, I think, signifies your growth over these years."

Yugi nodded as he replaced both cards and his homework. "All thanks to you, mou hitori no boku."

"Don't forget to give yourself some credit, aibou. After all, I've grown thanks to you too." The Pharaoh turned and pointed to his own soul room with the Eye of Anubis on its dark and sinister looking door. "But I didn't pull you here to show you this. Come, there's something I want you to see."

The Pharaoh led Yugi back out into the corridor, pausing and smiling at Yugi before pushing open the door to his own soul room. The ancient spirit then stepped aside and allowed Yugi to step in first before following behind him.

Yugi gasped as he entered the room. The soul room that was once so expansive and littered with doors and mazes, was now just a small space with a single golden chair, decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphics in the middle. Yugi turned to the ancient spirit, surprised. "Mou hitori no boku, what happened?"

"You. And your friends of course. I have my memories back, so there's no need for all of those doors and mazes and traps to protect my memories anymore. Everything is clear now." The Pharaoh walked past Yugi, briefly resting his hand on Yugi's shoulder and gripping it briefly before letting go and continuing to the throne seat. He paused in front of the seat and turned to Yugi, holding out his hand in beckoning for Yugi to come to his side.

Yugi walked forward to his darker half's side and took his hand. Playfully, the Pharaoh yanked Yugi forward and shoved him into the throne seat. "Eh? Mou hitori no boku?" The Pharaoh smiled as he sat down on the arm rest of the seat.

"Aibou, for all of these years, you've shared with me your family, your friends, and your memories. Together, we've created all of these new bonds and memories and these, I will remember forever in this life, and in the next. Since I have my memories back now, I want to share with you _my_ family, friends, and memories."

"Mou hitori no boku...but I've already seen them—I mean, I went to that memory world after you."

The former Pharaoh shook his head and rested his hand atop of Yugi's, gripping it gently. "You saw vague fragments of my memories of a past that didn't happen exactly as you saw it. Together, you and I were finally able to stop Zorc in that RPG game, but you haven't seen my _real_ past, exactly how it happened. My memories of growing up as a young prince of Egypt, my memories of my family and friends, and my memories of my homeland. I want to share them with you, as you have shared your memories with me, aibou."

"But how?" asked Yugi, blinking owlishly at his darker half. "I mean, I'm honoured that you want to share your memories with me, and I would love to see your past. But the last time, we needed the power of the Egyptian God Cards and of the stone tablet. And tomorrow we'll be at..."

The Pharaoh tightened his grip on Yugi's hand, who turned his hand to interlink their fingers. "We're in my soul room, where all of my memories reside. Trust me? Aibou?"

Yugi nodded. "Always."

The Pharaoh nodded too and leaned his head down towards Yugi. "Close your eyes, aibou..." whispered the Pharaoh.

Yugi closed his eyes as he felt the heat of the ancient Pharaoh near his face. Though the Pharaoh was always a spirit, Yugi had always been able to feel the warmth of the Pharaoh's body as if it were alive and actually existed, unlike the Pharaoh who only felt Yugi as distorted pressure. Yugi wondered briefly if their encounters in their spirit room was as physical for his darker half as it was for himself. Vaguely, Yugi heard the Pharaoh whisper his name before feeling his forehead rest gently on his own. Yugi felt the light from Eye of Anubis that had most likely appeared on his other half's forehead before actually seeing the light cut through his darkened vision. After a few moments of seeing light through his eyelids, Yugi felt the Pharaoh pull back and whisper for Yugi to open his eyes.

Yugi opened his eyes and stood up at the Pharaoh's gentle tug on his hand. The throne Yugi was sitting on vanished immediately, leaving a scene of a large, golden room, strewn with colourful silks all over the room.

"Mou hitori no boku, where are we?"

The Pharaoh pointed to a woman who was sitting obscured by a curtain of billowing red silk. "We're in my nursery. That's my mother. This is probably my earliest memory of her, and unfortunately I don't have very many memories of her since she died when I was very young. Unfortunately, there wasn't such things as modern medicine in my ancient days."

"Wow..." cooed Yugi in awe as he let go of his darker half's hand to step around the curtain to see Atem's mother better. "She's beautiful—oh my—mou hitori no boku! Is that you?"

The Pharaoh stepped around the curtain after Yugi before nodding. "Yes. I'm surprised too that I can remember this far since I was only a little over a year old."

"Wow!" Yugi leaned closer to Atem's mother, who was rocking a baby Atem wrapped in blankets in her arms. Atem was giggling and attempting to catch his mother's earrings in his baby hands and failing as his mother pulled back every time Atem came close. "You were so cute! And you look like me when I was a baby!"

"Hmn, I do?" The Pharaoh leaned over Yugi's shoulder to look at himself. "I suppose I do, but you're supposed to be my reincarnation. So it's natural that you would look like me—"

"No, I don't look like you! You look like me!" joked Yugi in rebuttal as he tried to touch baby Atem's cheek. But Yugi's fingers simply went through Atem's face like Yugi himself was the spirit.

"Sorry aibou. But this is a memory. You and I can't affect anything here. But..." smiled the Pharaoh down at Yugi fondly. "If you could touch me, I imagine that memory would be far clearer than when my mother was holding me."

Yugi snapped around to face his partner with a grin on his face. "No way! She's your mum! Although it would be so cool if I could actually hold you as a baby! Imagine that..." Yugi trailed off, his attention once again drawn to baby Atem, who had successfully grabbed his mother's earring and was tugging at it relentlessly as his mother tried to pry it gently out of his baby hands.

"Aibou, come on. Let's go to another memory of mine." said the Pharaoh, holding out his hand again.

"Huh? Oh yeah, let's go. But you were still so cute!" replied Yugi as he took a hold of his partner's hand again.

The Pharaoh chuckled lowly as the scenery swirled into a rainbow of colours around them. "I would like to think I'm still cute after all of these years."

"Nah, definitely not cute," teased Yugi as the colours finally swirled into solid shapes.

"Eh? Aibou! That's so hurtful!"

Yugi shook his head amusedly as he started to look around when the scenery solidified. "But you are pretty handsome."

The ancient Pharaoh felt a blush form on his face as Yugi released his hand excitedly to bound towards a young Atem who was just learning to walk. "Aibou..."

"Wow, how old were you here mou hitori no boku?" asked Yugi as he ran to stand next to the man in front of a young Atem walking carefully with his chubby arms waving around by his side, struggling to keep himself afoot.

"Ehh...let's see. I'd probably say about two years old." The Pharaoh stepped up to the other side of the man and looked across the man to meet his other half's wide, excited eyes. "And this man is my father, King Akhenamkhanen."

"What?" Yugi stepped back and walked literally through the waddling young Atem in his surprise. Yugi yelped in surprise and landed on his butt in his haste to move away from the young Atem.

The Pharaoh bursted out laughing, gripping his side as he watched Yugi yelp again as the young Atem walked right through his leg to head towards his encouraging father. "Yugi, this is a memory. Even if you tried to touch me, you couldn't."

Yugi shot the laughing form of the ancient Pharaoh an angry glare as he got to his feet and dusted off imaginary dust. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

The Pharaoh stepped up beside Yugi, walking through the memory of his father and his younger self to reach Yugi and swatted his butt. "The dust is a memory too, aibou."

Yugi blushed as he clenched both hands over his butt and ignored the still chuckling ancient spirit beside him. Instead, he turned his attention towards the young Atem who had fallen and injured his hand. King Akhenamkhanen was kneeling by his son and encouraging Atem to get back up without actually helping the young Atem up. Yugi smiled as he relaxed his hands over his butt. "Was he a good father?"

The Pharaoh beside him nodded. "He was. He was a fair and just man who sought peace over war. He was, as you can see, very encouraging and believed in our own individual strength from within. He could be quite distant at times, but I think that was because he was trying to teach me to think and stand on my own. But he was a good father." The Pharaoh fell silent, and together they watched as the young Atem got back onto his feet and continued to waddle towards his father, who was backing away continuously with arms spread towards Atem.

Yugi slipped his hand back into his darker half's hand beside him. "Let's go see another memory."

"Ah." The scene swirled into a mass of colours again before solidifying into another scene within a few moments.

"Wow, is that Mana?"

"Indeed it is." answered the ancient Pharaoh as Yugi bounded up to the young Mana who was playing in a fountain in a courtyard. "Is this the palace?"

"Yes it is. I'm over there," pointed the Pharaoh towards the top of the fountain above Mana's head.

For the third time that day, Yugi yelped in fear as he saw a young Atem, no older than eight or nine, climb up the centre portion of the fountain where water was spewing forth from. The structure was evidently slippery as Atem was visibly struggling to climb up the top, losing his grip a few times. Yugi snapped around to his other half. "What were you doing up there?"

"Being stupid," answered the former Pharaoh bluntly.

Yugi turned back to the scene before him and gulped. Atem had finally reached the top of the structure and held both tiny hands over the opening that sprayed water down the side of the centre structure into the fountain. Obscurely, Yugi recalled from one of his history classes that the Ancient Romans had used irrigation systems to create a network of plumbing that could be used to power a fountain similar to the fountain before him. Seeing Atem succeed in stopping the flow of water at the top of the fountain, Yugi knew exactly what was going to happen next. "That's going to hurt. The pool is pretty shallow. It barely goes up past Mana's knees."

The Pharaoh made a sound of agreement before responding, "Just watch."

And just as Yugi predicted, the water pressure building up beneath Atem's hands became greater than the amount of force Atem could hold back. Water bursted through Atem's hands and collided with Atem's face, causing the young prince to splutter and lose his balance atop the fountain. Atem fell off the fountain structure and just before hitting the surface of the water, the water churned up below Atem and formed a small geyser, catching the falling prince and gently lowering him into the water.

"Young Prince!" A young Mahaad ran towards the now crying prince, palms held aloft and glowing purple with magic.

Yugi let out the breath he didn't even realise he was holding and watched as the young Mahaad carried the crying young prince out of the pool to dry land before fetching the crying young Mana. Mahaad comforted both Mana and Atem before yelling at Atem, amusing Yugi with his very formal and apologetic reprimand.

"Mahaad was a great friend and protector." The Pharaoh stepped past Yugi to stand before the livid Mahaad still reprimanding the crying prince. "It was always difficult for him. He had to balance being my friend with me being a prince when even just talking to me. He was always apologetic when addressing me, and was terribly stringent on the rules of formality. Most of all, he was very loyal."

"Which is why the Black Magician is so very loyal to you eh, mou hitori no boku?"

"Ah," acknowledged the former Pharaoh, who simply held out his hand for Yugi to take again. Without a word, Yugi took his hand again and the scene swirled into a slew of colours again.

This time, the colours formed a room littered with shelves of scrolls and papyrus tomes. In the middle of the room was an adolescent Atem hunched over a number of scrolls on a desk. Atem was clearly studying as he glanced between several scrolls and wrote on a sheet of papyrus with a brush made of some kind of animal hair attached to a stick of reed. Yugi moved to stand over Atem's shoulder as he watched Atem draw figures that Yugi has only seen previously on the stone tablets.

"What are you writing about?"

"Hmn? Probably something about the economics of Egypt or something similar. As future pharaoh, I had to learn the structure of Egypt's monarchy. In all honesty," started the Pharaoh as he walked over to his younger self and peered over his shoulder. "I barely remembered any of this stuff when I actually became Pharaoh. That's why Shimon Muuran was always advising me on everything. Same thing with Seto. Seto's genius was evidently reincarnated in our dear Kaiba."

"I'll say, and his love of the Blue Eyes White Dragon too."

"Ah," agreed the Pharaoh softly. "This is why I wanted to show you this memory aibou."

Yugi returned his attention to the adolescent Atem who had replaced his writing instrument in his writing set. Stretching out, Atem stood up and tip-toed to his door, opening it briefly before closing it softly just as quickly.

"I was checking to see if there were any guards outside of the room," supplied the Pharaoh, explaining his adolescent self's action. "There were three of them, so..." The Pharaoh trailed off and instead directed Yugi to keep watching his younger self.

Atem had went back to his desk and was removing his earrings, ear cuffs, and his crown of the Eye of Anubis. Setting the jewellery on the desk, Atem grabbed a cloak from the back of his chair and threw it over his shoulders, covering his remaining gold pieces on his arms. He then pulled up his hood to cover his distinctive hairstyle and moved between book cases to the back of the room. The Pharaoh led Yugi after his past self to the back of the room where there was another door. As before, Atem peered through the door before quietly closing it again and instead headed to the large open window. Turning to the bookshelf directly across from the window, Atem carefully stepped onto the bottom shelf to boost himself to the top shelf, pulling down a long thick cord hidden there. Moving back to the window, Atem quickly wound the rope tightly around the peg used to tie the curtain in place and tugged on it, testing it with his weight. Atem sneakily looked out under the window and nodded to himself, an indication that the coast was clear. He then threw the cord out the window where it nearly reached the ground below.

"Come on aibou," said the Pharaoh as he grabbed a hold of Yugi's wrist and tugged him through the wall only to float outside. Together, they watched the adolescent Atem climb down the cord onto the ground safely before quickly making his way behind a pillar. The Pharaoh and Yugi both floated after Atem as he dodged guards, servants, and priests of the palace, quickly making his way to the palace gates.

"It looks like you've done this before, mou hitori no boku."

The ancient spirit nodded, amused at his own antics. "I wasn't quite that studious as my father hoped I was. Come on." The Pharaoh tugged on Yugi's hand again and the scenery blurred again before quickly re-solidifying. A short amount of time had clearly past as a cloaked Atem was walking through the market in amazement. Yugi and the Pharaoh quickly landed in the memory beside Atem and Yugi quickly joined Atem in admiring the scenery around them.

"Wow, this is amazing! To be able to _see_ ancient Egypt without the panicky chaos when Bakura attacked—Grandpa would be so jealous! Wow..." Silently, the Pharaoh followed his partner and his younger self as he enjoyed the [memory of the] warmth of the Egyptian sun and the warmth of Yugi's joy.

For what seemed like hours, Yugi and his darker half followed Atem through ancient Egypt until Atem reached the Nile river. Finding a relatively secluded spot, Atem had set down the various food purchases he had made in the Egyptian market and removed his cloak to sit on top of it. Pulling off his golden sandals, Atem stuck his feet into the Nile and laid himself out on his cloak to watch the sky. Yugi also sat down beside Atem and the ancient Pharaoh joined Yugi, sitting opposite Yugi, literally through his memory self's food purchases.

"Hmn," scoffed the Pharaoh. "Now that I think about it, I was really stupid. There are crocodiles in these waters."

"Eh?" Yugi snapped around to look at his darker half before he started scanning the waters around them with panicky eyes.

"Relax, aibou. This is a memory, and I obviously survive. I was lucky that day." Yugi visibly relaxed and copied the action of the young Egyptian prince and fell back to lay down by the river.

"This must have been so relaxing for you," murmured Yugi, closing his eyes.

"Ah, it was," whispered the Pharaoh as he watched his partner enjoy himself. Reaching across his memory counterpart, the Pharaoh gently touched Yugi's shoulder who opened his eyes and looked at his darker half in question. "Let's fast forward a little bit. There's something I want you to see. It was the highlight of the day."

Yugi nodded and the colours around them swirled once again and the scene changed into dusk. The memory of the food the Pharaoh was sitting through beside Atem was all gone and the sun was just beginning to set over the horizon. Atem was sitting up and watching the sun set, his cloak once again pulled around him to fight off the inevitable chill that came with the setting sun.

"That's so beautiful!" declared Yugi as he sat up to watch the setting sun with the adolescent Atem.

"I agree. I would have to say Egypt's setting suns were probably one of the most beautiful in the world. Hence, the belief in Ra, our Sun God." The Pharaoh turned his attention to his partner to watch the sun reflect off of Yugi's wide, excited eyes. "At that time," began the Pharaoh, attracting the attention of Yugi. "I didn't know the palace was in an uproar looking for me. My next memory would probably of the flogging I got from my father. I think we can skip that memory eh, aibou?"

Yugi blinked and giggled. "I think we can." The two of them fell silent again as they watched the sun disappear below the horizon with the adolescent Atem.

Finally when darkness completely fell, the Pharaoh got up and offered a hand to Yugi, who took it and pulled himself up. "Let's go to the next memory."

"Right. Where to next?"

The ancient spirit closed his eyes. "There are so many memories, and there's only a limited amount of time. I want to show you so much...is there something in my life you particularly want to see?"

"Hmn..." hummed Yugi, placing a thoughtful finger to his chin. "Well let's see...how about an Egyptian duel?"

The Pharaoh let out an amused chuckle. "You want to see an Egyptian duel after fighting Zorc less than a day ago?"

"Good point," grimaced Yugi. "Well then...let's see...ah! How about a time you were with someone you were dating? Okay—I guess back then there wasn't really such a thing as dating, but I want to see your girlfriend! The Prince or Pharaoh of Egypt would be pretty popular, I imagine!"

The ancient spirit blinked in surprise at Yugi's request before smiling, crestfallen, and shaking his head. "You're right, aibou. There wasn't such a thing as 'dating' back then. If there was an attraction between two people, especially if you were royal, the most they would ever do together is talk in private. Not exactly a date really. Marriage would be the next step..." The Pharaoh fell silent and released Yugi's hand before turning to watch his adolescent self retie his sandals before heading back to the palace.

"Mou hitori no boku..." Yugi moved closer to his darker half, ignoring the memory of Atem as he walked through Yugi as though he were a ghost. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked about that."

"No," replied the Pharaoh, shaking his head. "You see, I died young. I never really had time to fall in love with anyone or at the least, become attracted to anyone...but..."

"But...? Mou hitori no boku?"

The ancient Pharaoh shook his head and closed his eyes without responding, tucking his hands into his trouser pockets. "Never mind. Nothing."

In response, Yugi wrapped both arms around his darker half, burying his face into his neck as he gripped the ancient spirit tight to his body. The Pharaoh hesitated a few moments before removing his hands from his pockets and wrapping his arms around Yugi, clutching him tightly to him.

"I'm sorry, mou hitori no boku," began Yugi with tears forming in his eyes. "I'm sorry you never had a chance to fall in love. I'm sorry you had to die so young. I'm sorry you had to be alone for over three thousand years..."

"Aibou, please no—don't cry." The Pharaoh tangled one hand into Yugi's hair and used his other hand to wipe away Yugi's tears. "Don't cry. Because I'm not sorry. I did what I had to do and given a chance to change things, I would do it all over again, exactly as I did it before.

"It's not that I didn't love. I loved my parents, my friends, my priests, my servants, my guards, my people, my country. I loved them all. I have no regrets from my ancient past. Meeting you, awakening three thousand years in the future—that was merely another chance to experience and learn and grow. And I have, aibou. Thanks to you and all of our friends and family. And I did learn...the feeling of falling in love."

Yugi tilted his head up to meet his darker half's gentle eyes. "When...?"

The Pharaoh shook his head. "It doesn't matter." The ancient spirit moved to cup Yugi's face. "It doesn't matter, because it's enough. I'm satisfied, and I'm prepared to fulfil my final duty..."

Yugi clenched his eyes shut to fight off new tears. "I had almost forgotten..." whispered Yugi into the space between them. "That tonight may be your last night on Earth..."

The Pharaoh released a small gust of breath before leaning down to rest his forehead against Yugi's. "It's all right...let's go to another memory." The Pharaoh leaned back and turned to look at his adolescent self's retreating form. Yugi followed the line of his gaze. "I should probably show you my flogging next to cheer you up."

Yugi moved his arm down and swatted his darker half on his butt.

"Oi!"

"That's not funny, mou hitori no boku. Show me something happy."

"Ah, but that was happy!" joked the ancient Pharaoh with a grin on his face. "For Priest Akhenaden anyway."

Yugi stepped back from his darker half, wiping away the last remnants of his tears and shaking his head at the ridiculousness of his other half. "He was evil."

"And frankly an awful Priest and uncle. Of course, I didn't know he was my uncle at that time." The Pharaoh gave his smaller counterpart a smile, who reciprocated with one of his own. He then held out his hand for Yugi to take. "Okay then, let's go see my coronation. That was probably the most exhilarating and terrifying moment of my life."

"Eh, let's go." Together in hand, the scenery swirled in a conglomerate of colours as the memory changed again. This time, the scene changed to the sight of a very familiar Pharaoh Atem pacing nervously back and forth with a masked Shimon Muuran reassuring the newly crowned Pharaoh. They were in a large banquet room surrounded by guards on all sides with a floor length red curtain muffling the sounds of the cheering crowd outside.

The Pharaoh released his other half's hand and walked up beside his memory counterpart, smiling poignantly to himself. Yugi quickly followed and dodged the memory of Pharaoh Atem walking through him. "You look really nervous."

"Indeed I was. I had to go out there," The ancient Pharaoh pointed to the red floor length curtains. "And greet all of Egypt as their new ruler, the living reincarnation of God. It was a lot of pressure, especially since I was only a little older than you are now."

"Wow...I can't imagine."

"Well that's not true, aibou. With all of the duels we've participated in, some of them broadcasted, you can probably imagine the nervousness of addressing such a large crowd."

Yugi shook his head and pointed to the curtains. "That's different! In a duel they're just spectators. You _rule _over all of those people out there!"

The Pharaoh smiled wryly. "I suppose—hey, here I go. Come on." The ancient spirit grabbed a hold of Yugi's hand and led him to follow the figure of Pharaoh Atem as he walked through the curtains that were pulled aside. The crowd erupted in a roar, chanting and cheering, throwing their arms out in gestation. Pharaoh Atem walked to the edge of the balcony and waved with a large smile on his face and his cape billowing in the uproar.

"You can't tell I was really nervous here, can you?" asked the Pharaoh as he released Yugi's hand to lean against the railing beside his memory self.

"Nope. You look calm and cool, just exactly as if you were about to duel," exclaimed Yugi as he copied his darker half and leaned against the railing on the other side of Pharaoh Atem.

The ancient spirit shook his head and pointed to his memory self's other hand, the one that was not waving to the crowd. "I looked calm, but look here."

Yugi ducked behind to look at Pharaoh Atem's other hand in wonder. Pharaoh Atem had his other hand clenched into a tight fist below the railing and hidden beneath his billowing cape. His fist was trembling, sweat visibly gathered around his palm as Pharaoh Atem clearly attempted to hide his shaking. "Ahh, mou hitori no boku, who knew someone so confident like you could be so nervous. I've never seen you in such a state!"

The ancient Pharaoh shrugged. "I grew out of it as I reigned as Pharaoh. I had been Pharaoh for less than a year before I died, but it was enough time for me to get use to it. And besides, now I have my partner by my side to help keep me strong, neh aibou?"

Yugi flashed his darker half a dazzling smile. "Woah, they're all bowing to you!" And indeed, all of the crowd had fallen to their knees and bowed deeply to Pharaoh Atem, who had finally stopped waving and lowered his hand.

"Time to go, aibou," said the Pharaoh as he stepped back away from the railing.

"Huh, where to?" asked Yugi as he copied his darker half's action.

"It's time for the celebration and banquet in the throne room." Immediately following the ancient spirit's statement, the memory of Pharaoh Atem turned around abruptly and retreated through the curtains with Shimon Muuran following him. Yugi and the Pharaoh followed after the form of Pharaoh Atem, slipping through the curtains and walking closely behind the newly crowned Pharaoh. Yugi took that time to admire the inside of the palace and audibly showed his admiration of the throne room upon entering. The two of them followed the memory of Pharaoh Atem as he made his way to his throne and sat upon the familiar golden seat that now also occupied the Pharaoh's soul room. Yugi and his darker half took a seat on either side of the armrest and turned to observe the celebration.

"By that time," began the Pharaoh. "I was slightly more relaxed, though as you can see, I was still extremely nervous," said the Pharaoh as he pointed to his memory counterpart's grip on the armrest. Yugi exchanged a look with his darker half before reaching out in an attempt to rest his palm over Pharaoh Atem's hand. As expected, Yugi's hand went through the memory's. "Thanks for the thought, aibou."

Yugi shook his head and didn't reply, instead turning to watch the celebration. The ancient Pharaoh copied Yugi's action and returned his attention to the celebration before him, smiling in reminiscence as he watched his priests interact with the other servants and guards of the palace. "Oh!"

Yugi turned his attention to the Pharaoh in surprise. "Mou hitori no boku, what's up?"

The Pharaoh pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the balconies above the main throne room. "There's going to be an assassination attempt."

"EH?" ejaculated Yugi in surprise, falling off of the armrest into the same seat occupied by the memory of Pharaoh Atem. "What?"

"Mmn...if I remember correctly, it should happen about now—ah! There's the guy now!"

Yugi hurriedly got off the throne and off the platform, pausing and turning to scan the balconies in alarm. The Pharaoh followed after his partner and clasped a hand on Yugi's shoulder. "Relax," muttered the Pharaoh into Yugi's ear. "And just watch, aibou. Everything is going to be okay."

Yugi gave his darker half a worrying glance before biting his lower lip absently and nodded trustingly. Together, the ancient spirit and Yugi watched as the man prepared a dart into a reed straw and took aim at the unbeknownst Pharaoh Atem, who was more focused on appearing to enjoy the celebration as he hid his nervousness. Isis's Millennium Tauk started to glow then and she immediately attracted the attention of Seto and Mahaad. The assassin, upon realising he had been seen, immediately blew the poisoned dart, which was quickly blocked by Mahaad with his cape. The guards immediately responded and apprehended the assassin before bringing him before Pharaoh Atem.

Pharaoh Atem stood up from his throne, his hands clutched tightly into shaking fists. "I never really figured out if Seto thought I was angry or scared," interjected the ancient spirit beside Yugi.

Yugi turned a questioning eye to the Pharaoh, who merely beckoned Yugi to turn his attention to follow Seto's line of vision. Seto was discretely watching Pharaoh Atem's shaking fists and quickly stepped in front of his ruler to hide him from the assassin's view. Priest Seto immediately took charge, ordering the assassin to be dealt with by the six priests as a display of their power.

After watching the priests remove the monster _Ka_ from the assassin using the Millenium Items, Yugi turned to his darker half and asked, "So what were you? Angry or scared?"

"Scared. Definitely scared," acknowledged the Pharaoh candidly. In response, Yugi slipped an arm around his darker half's back and gave his darker half a half hug, which was reciprocated by the ancient Pharaoh. "In my entire life, there had been assassination attempts against the royal family, of course. But as a young prince, I was well protected by Mahaad and the previous chosen priests of the Millennium Items and most assassination attempts were against my father. In that short time I reigned as Pharaoh, there would be two more assassination attempts—both by our dear Bakura—but by that time I was pretty use to the idea of it. I'd like to think I grew quickly after I became Pharaoh, especially to be able to face Zorc and his minions. But, I also think it's impossible to not have some fear."

"That's a lot of responsibility," muttered Yugi into the Pharaoh's side. "It's sad...you were so young..."

"Ah, a little sad, but I was still older than you are now..." acceded the ancient spirit. "It seemed this memory failed in cheering you up, aibou. How about I show you my room? It was quite grand and excessively lavish."

Yugi nodded mutely by the Pharaoh's side and the scene once again dissolved into a swirl of colours that soon solidified into a large golden room draped in all sorts of colourful silks. There was a large balcony overlooking Egypt on one side of the room and a door that led to a large bathing room on the other. In the middle of the room was a large bed draped in navy blue silk curtains and bed sheets.

The Pharaoh stepped out of Yugi's grip and jumped onto his bed, flopping out over the expanse of it. The Pharaoh sighed. "Another thing I like about the modern era is the fact that it has more comfortable beds. The sheets are soft, the mattress isn't too bad, but it can't beat the bed you have in your room, aibou. Come," said the Pharaoh as he patted the bed by his side. "Join me."

Yugi gave his darker half a wry smile before walking over and climbing onto the bed with his other half. Together they laid silently on the bed and watched the navy blue curtains above the bed move in the wind that blew through the Egyptian night. After several silent minutes, Yugi broke the silence. "Where were you? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

The Pharaoh shook his head, attracting Yugi's attention. "This was nearing the time I had to fight and seal Zorc in the Millennium Ring. Most of those nights, I stayed up late or didn't sleep at all." The Pharaoh turned his head sideways to meet Yugi's eyes. "I guess there aren't too many exceptionally happy memories left—this one's turning out to be sad too..."

"I'm sorry—"

"I'm not. Like I said, aibou. I'm not sorry and I don't regret anything..." Yugi fell silent and turned his body to curl towards his darker half. In response, the Pharaoh sat up and placed a comforting hand on Yugi's side. "You can sleep here tonight. I've pulled us back into my soul room, so you don't have to worry about my memory self walking in here."

Yugi nodded sleepily, closing his eyes briefly before snapping them wide open again when the Pharaoh moved to get off the bed. "Mou hitori no boku, where are you going?"

The Pharaoh paused and turned back to Yugi. He gave Yugi a small smile. "I'm going to go prepare my deck to challenge you tomorrow, aibou. Sunrise will be in a few hours, so get some rest in preparation for tomorrow."

Yugi sat up. "But don't you need to rest?"

"I'm fine. I rested while you were preparing your deck." The Pharaoh shifted to kneel before Yugi and pressed both hands on Yugi's shoulder to push him back down on the bed. "So sleep, aibou. I'll wake you when we get there."

Yugi nodded and closed his eyes, once again curling his body up on his side. The Pharaoh reached over Yugi to grab the bedsheets and pulled them around Yugi, carefully tucking the smaller boy in. After patting Yugi tenderly on the cheek and resting his palm there for a few scant seconds, the Pharaoh withdrew from the bed.

"Wait, mou hitori no boku!"

The Pharaoh turned back to Yugi who had his eyes open again and a hand stretched towards his darker half. "There's..." Yugi hesitated and the Pharaoh sat back down on the bed and slid over to Yugi's side, taking his outstretched hand in his own. Yugi glanced at their joined hands before meeting the ancient spirit's eyes. "There's one thing I want to know before you go...because I probably won't ever get a chance to ask you ever again...

"Earlier, you mentioned you had learned the feeling of falling in love, but you wouldn't say when you learned that feeling or who you had fallen in love with—"

"Aibou—"

"I know you said that it didn't matter since you were satisfied, but...I want to know. I want to know who you finally fell in love with and...if it's who I think it is, I'm glad. I would be so glad that you finally loved and were loved..." Yugi fell silent, eyes pleading silently to his darker half.

"Aibou..." The Pharaoh clenched his hand tightly around Yugi's. "I've never fallen in love before, but if these feelings I have for this person isn't love, then I don't know what love is. But I'm also quite certain the person whom I have these feelings for, doesn't love me like that."

Yugi sat up and grasped the Pharaoh's hand pleadingly with both of his own. "I'm _positive_ she loves you as much as you love her. Mou hitori no boku—"

The ancient Pharaoh blinked in confusion.

"—she came to our room you know. She wanted to see you but you were resting and letting me prepare my deck in private—"

"Aibou!" interrupted the Pharaoh. Tentatively he asked, "Who are you talking about?"

"Anzu of course!"

The Pharaoh smiled self-deprecatingly before prying his hand from Yugi's and rested both of them on Yugi's shoulder again. "Anzu is a great friend, but I haven't fallen in love with her."

"Eh?" blinked Yugi in confusion. "Then who?"

The Pharaoh shook his head and instead attempted to push Yugi back down to go to sleep. "Like I said, it doesn't matter."

Yugi resisted and instead grabbed the wrists of his darker half. "Ah, come on mou hitori no boku! Who is it? Are you afraid of telling me because you think they won't reciprocate your feelings? Or are you afraid I might try to tell them about your feelings—"

The Pharaoh gave a teasing smile. "You really are curious, eh aibou?"

Yugi stopped trying to resist his darker half and allowed himself to be pushed back down onto the bed. "It's not that I'm curious. I just want you to be happy. And if you never tell the person you love your feelings, you won't ever know if that person shares the same feelings as you do. Wouldn't you regret _that _if you missed that chance?"

The ancient Pharaoh paused and considered that question. Would he regret it? Would he regret telling him his true feelings? After all, tonight may be his last night on Earth. So even if his feelings weren't returned, it wouldn't matter. Looking down into the strong, gentle courage reflected in Yugi's eyes, he was quite certain no matter what deck he puts together tonight, no matter how many strategies, and analysing of Yugi's duelling strategies he did that night, he was certain he would lose. It would truly be his last night on Earth.

Finally, the Pharaoh bowed his head and laid down on top of Yugi to hug him, cradling his partner's head. Yugi copied the ancient spirit and hugged him back. The Pharaoh smiled and turned to whisper in Yugi's ear, "It's you. I love you, aibou."

The Pharaoh felt Yugi gasp into his ear at the same time his arms around him stiffened. The Pharaoh closed his eyes and gave himself another self-deprecating smile before pulling away from Yugi, refusing to meet his other half's eyes as he turned to leave.

Yugi's small voice stopped him. "How long...?"

The Pharaoh paused but didn't turn back to Yugi. "I don't know. The feeling grew so quietly that by the time I recognised it, you had been taken from me."

"Doma..."

"Ah. It's easy for me to say that despite having lived two different life times, that was the worst moment of my life...goodnight Yugi. Sleep well." The ancient spirit moved to slide off the bed when a sharp tug on his jacket stopped him again.

"Were you going to leave without hearing my answer? Mou hitori no boku?"

The Pharaoh snapped around to meet Yugi's eyes as he sat up from the bed. Yugi broke eye contact with the ancient spirit and looked down to clutch his Millennium Puzzle. "I had always thought I liked Anzu, and when I heard you learned the feeling of falling in love, I thought you fell in love with Anzu. But..." Yugi pulled the Millennium Puzzle tight to his chest, clutching it tightly as tears gathered in his eyes. "But that suddenly made my heart ache. I thought—I thought it was because I knew Anzu would pick you over me, always! But when you said it wasn't Anzu, I felt so relieved and I hoped that maybe—just possibly...And when we went to that memory where you were almost assassinated—your coronation! That pain suddenly became indescribable. The thought of you dying...the thought of you leaving...I don't want you to leave tomorrow! But I know you _must_ leave to seal away the Millennium Items forever! That's why—" sobbed Yugi. "That's why I'll duel you with everything I am and everything you've helped me become!

"I'm young, mou hitori no boku. Like you said, I'm younger than when you died. So I too don't know if these feelings I have are love. But..." Yugi looked back up to meet his darker half's gaze with tears trailing down his face. "But I think this must be love if it hurts this much just thinking you may love someone else...that you have to leave me..."

"Aibou..." The ancient Pharaoh quickly moved forward and seized Yugi, pulling his body against his own in a tight hug that was reciprocated just as fervently by his lighter half. "Aibou, I-I—" The Pharaoh cut himself off as he pressed a kiss to the top of Yugi's head, relieved tears starting to form in his eyes. "Aibou, I now know for certain I have no regrets in this and my previous lifetime," whispered the Pharaoh tenderly into the top of Yugi's head. "I can depart for the afterlife with no regrets."

"Don't—please don't..." sobbed Yugi clinging to his darker half. "I'm not courageous like you! I can't just hear you say you love me and that's it!"

"And I don't want it to end with just hearing you love me, aibou. But tonight is my last night—oh aibou...I don't want to let you go. But..." The Pharaoh trailed off as he absently pressed another kiss to the top of Yugi's head. "But even if we have to part in this lifetime, I'll wait for you. I'll wait for you in the afterlife—in the next lifetime—whenever! I'll wait for you, aibou. Always."

Yugi pulled back from the Pharaoh and instead wrapped his arms around the Pharaoh's neck to pull him down to meet his lips. Hesitantly, Yugi placed a soft, chaste kiss on the Pharaoh's lips.

"Aibou," whispered the Pharaoh as Yugi ended the kiss tentatively. In response, the Pharaoh pushed Yugi back against the bed, who willingly allowed himself to fall backwards. The Pharaoh laid himself across Yugi again, mindful of the surfaces of the Milluenium Puzzle, and propped himself up with an arm cradled over Yugi's head to lean down and kiss Yugi adoringly. Yugi responded with innocent uncertainty by gently taking his darker half's upper lip between his lips and sucking gently. The Pharaoh smiled into the kiss and tangled his fingers into Yugi's hair to press him closer, slipping his tongue into Yugi's mouth.

Yugi made a sound of surprise and the Pharaoh moved his head back only to be stopped by Yugi as he pulled his darker half back close to kiss him again.

After another long, passionate kiss, the Pharaoh pulled back and whispered, "Aibou..." before moving to kiss down the line of Yugi's chin to his collared neck. Absently with great familiarity, the Pharaoh unbuckled Yugi's choker and tossed it off the bed before moving down to nibble on the exposed skin. Yugi giggled in response, tugging at his darker half's hair to get him away from his neck. The ancient Pharaoh smiled into Yugi's neck and instead pressed an amorous kiss to his neck in apology before moving his hand down to the bottom of Yugi's shirt. The Pharaoh paused. "Stop me. Tell me to stop, aibou," whispered the ancient spirit into Yugi's neck.

Yugi stilled for a few moments before moving to sit up. The Pharaoh sat up onto his knees to allow Yugi to get up, who responded by shoving the Pharaoh backwards onto the bed and then straddling the Pharaoh's lower abdomen. The Pharaoh blinked in surprise, mouth falling agape as he watched Yugi tug off his Millennium Puzzle, jacket, and sleeveless top before throwing them in the general vicinity of his choker. Yugi then reached down to unbuckle his counterpart's own choker and threw that with the growing pile of clothes before leaning down to return the favour, kissing and nibbling on the Pharaoh's neck.

"Aibou..." The Pharaoh arched into Yugi and wrapped both arms around the smaller boy, running his palms up and down Yugi's smooth, soft, back and only stopping to remove his own Millennium Puzzle, jacket, and top. Dropping his own clothes and Millennium Puzzle far more ceremoniously over the side of the bed, the Pharaoh reached up to grasp Yugi's hair, tugging him down for a passionate kiss, which was returned with equal vigour. Pushing with his legs, the Pharaoh turned their positions so that he was atop of Yugi again and slid down to Yugi's stomach, pressing butterfly kisses to the soft skin and massaging both nipples aimlessly with his fingers.

"Mou hitori no boku, I—" The Pharaoh glanced back up to meet the gaze of his blushing other half. "I'm—I—" Yugi turned away to the side, embarrassment clearly on his face.

The ancient Pharaoh chuckled into Yugi's stomach, causing the younger boy to giggle at the feeling. "I know, aibou. Look at me, please?"

Yugi looked back done with one eye, nodding as the Pharaoh started to undo the belt around Yugi's trousers. Slowly while keeping eye contact with his other half, the Pharaoh slowly undid Yugi's trousers and slid them off along with his underwear, shoes, and socks. Yugi audibly gulped and turned, clenching his eyes shut again in embarrassment as the Pharaoh finally looked down to acknowledge Yugi's arousal. "Don't be so embarrassed, aibou. Here..."

Yugi opened his eyes again when he heard the clasp of a buckle and peered up to watch his darker half remove the rest of his own clothes. The Pharaoh, though similar in appearance to Yugi, was obviously more developed and muscular in comparison to Yugi's younger and more lithe form. Yugi couldn't help but admire the physique that was usually only hinted at with their choice of outfits and again, audibly gulped when he saw his darker half's erection.

The Pharaoh leaned back over Yugi, chuckling lowly in good humour. "Don't worry aibou, in a few years time, I imagine you would look exactly as I do now. After all, you are my reincarnation. So don't worry about your appearance."

Yugi shook his head, glancing down between their bodies before looking back up to meet the ancient spirit's eyes. "No-no—it's not that! It's just—uhh..." stammered Yugi, face still flushed in embarrassment and something more.

The Pharaoh blinked a few times in succession before realisation hit him. Smiling warmly down at his other half, he placed a reassuring hand on Yugi's bare shoulder. "We won't go that far if your concern is—"

"No!" protested Yugi sharply as he grabbed the Pharaoh's arm. "No." repeated Yugi more quietly and calmly. "I...I don't want to have any regrets by being reticent about—you know. Tonight is...there's no time for regrets."

"Ah," acknowledged the darker half as he linked his hand with his lighter half's. "Tell me to stop if you need to." With his other free hand, the Pharaoh finally recognised Yugi's arousal by wrapping his hand around it loosely, causing Yugi to inhale sharply. Slowly, the Pharaoh stroked Yugi's erection, causing the younger boy to buck up into his darker half's arms. "Shh..." The Pharaoh shifted downward, once again pressing kisses to Yugi's neck and proceeding downward with a clear goal in mind.

Yugi held his breath as he tried to reign in on his nervousness and anticipation for what he knew was about to come. The Pharaoh reached Yugi's arousal and glanced upward to meet his partner's eyes once last time before kissing both protruding hip bones and taking Yugi's erection in his mouth. Yugi gasped loudly, the feel of his darker half's warm, wet mouth generating a fiery pleasure he had never felt before. "Mou hitori no boku—that's—!" The Pharaoh sucked suddenly, creating a pleasure that overwhelmed Yugi's senses and very quickly, far too quickly for Yugi's liking, the heat burning low in Yugi's abdomen crescendoed into a large explosion of pleasure. Yugi was quite literally gasping for breath as the Pharaoh continued to suck gently, massaging Yugi's bollocks to carry him through his release.

Yugi released his grip on the Pharaoh's hair that he didn't even realise he had, and instead moved to clutch the silk bedsheets below him as he attempted to regain his breath. The Pharaoh scooted up to meet Yugi's hazy eyes, the evidence of his recent activities plainly obvious on his lips and hands. Yugi leaned up tiredly and the Pharaoh descended to meet Yugi's lips in an oddly arousing kiss, considering the fact that Yugi was literally tasting himself upon the Pharaoh's lips.

"Aibou..." whispered the Pharaoh in warning as the hand covered in Yugi's spunk trailed down past Yugi's re-hardening arousal and his bollocks to his entrance. After carefully spreading Yugi's legs, a warm sticky finger was pressed tentatively against Yugi's resisting entrance. To distract Yugi from the discomfort the Pharaoh knew would come, he leaned down to kiss Yugi passionately again while using just enough force to push one finger in slowly. Yugi gasped into the kiss, his muscles clenching and relaxing reflexively as the Pharaoh pressed smoothly against the inner walls of Yugi's body to prepare him.

"Mou hitori...no boku..." mumbled Yugi as he tried to focus on the Pharaoh's mouth kissing him. Even without words, Yugi could feel the Pharaoh's love for him in the slow and thorough kisses he was showering upon him. Slowly, Yugi felt his body relax into the Pharaoh's warmth and barely noticed as the Pharaoh pressed another finger into his body. Yugi broke his kiss with the Pharaoh and instead moved to kiss the Pharaoh's chin and neck, inhaling the spicy, masculine scent of his darker half that was distinctly of Egypt and the ancient spirit. Yugi closed his eyes, committing the Pharaoh's scent to memory as he laid below the Pharaoh, who was impossibly and slowly regenerating that burning pleasure from deep within. "Atem..."

The Pharaoh paused and turned to meet Yugi's eyes. "You never call me that."

"It's your name," said Yugi as he reached a hand forward to cup the Pharaoh's cheek.

"It is," replied the Pharaoh, turning to kiss Yugi's palm. "But I'm also 'mou hitori no boku' and I will be for this last night. Just as you're 'aibou' for this last night."

"Stop," muttered Yugi. "You're going to make me cry again."

"Well we can't have that now can we, aibou?" whispered the Pharaoh mischievously as he shifted back down to kiss Yugi's belly, causing Yugi to giggle. Swiftly, the Pharaoh inserted another finger into his partner to continue to prepare him. Yugi mentally winced at the new addition, but continued to giggle as the Pharaoh's hair and kisses ticked his belly. The Pharaoh paused and breathed into Yugi's belly, "I prefer 'mou hitori no boku' over my real name. Because _you_ are the only one who can call me that."

"Okay, mou hitori no boku." The Pharaoh smiled into Yugi's belly before moving back down to give Yugi's hardened erection a grand lick, causing his partner to arch up off the bed. At the same time, the Pharaoh gently worked open Yugi's passage way, pushing in farther in search of Yugi's prostate.

"Oh!" gasped Yugi in surprise as the Pharaoh pressed against that gland with his fingers. "Wow that's—I never thought what they said about it was true!"

The Pharaoh pressed his fingers against the prostate gland again, causing Yugi to yelp in surprise and pleasure again. "Ahh, aibou is so cute and innocent," said the Pharaoh teasingly. After mercilessly torturing his other half with unimaginable pleasure for another couple of minutes until the point where Yugi was going to climax again, he stopped and asked, "Ready for me, aibou?"

Yugi relaxed the tight grip he had on the silk bedsheets and met his darker half's eyes to nod. The Pharaoh removed his fingers and brought his hand up to his mouth licking it and coating it with saliva as a substitute lubricant. However, Yugi stopped the Pharaoh and instead sat up before leaning down to take his darker half's erection in his mouth.

"Aibou! You don't have to do that—!" Yugi ignored his darker half and focused on lubricating his other half's erection, stopping only when the Pharaoh tugged on Yugi's head gently but urgently. Yugi flopped back down onto the bed, meeting the flushed, aroused gaze of his other half before parting his legs in anticipation.

The Pharaoh closed his eyes for a moment to gather his control before moving between Yugi's legs and indicating for Yugi to wrap his legs around his waist. Meeting his lighter half's eyes for one last time, the ancient Pharaoh exhaled as he cautiously pushed into Yugi.

Yugi held his breath, feeling the first throb of the anticipated pain and moved to dig his hands into his darker half's shoulder. The Pharaoh scooped Yugi up into his arms and slowly lowered Yugi onto him, millimetre by millimetre until Yugi was seated completely upon him. Yugi hissed, breathing slowly as he waited for the pain to diminish and instead tried to focus on the feel of the Pharaoh enveloping his entire body in warmth and strength. Yugi rested his head on his counterpart's shoulder, closing his eyes as the Pharaoh rubbed his back and whispered comforting words into his ears. Inhaling deeply, Yugi committed to memory of the scent of their intermixing bodies and the evidence of this last night together. Tentatively, Yugi shifted his hips and grimaced in pain, but pushed on, carefully raising himself before lowering himself back down.

"Aibou, let me," whispered the Pharaoh. Taking a hold of Yugi's moving hips, the Pharaoh adjusted their position and pressed upward to meet his partner, wrangling a gasp from Yugi as he directly struck Yugi's prostate. Slowly and thoroughly, Yugi and the Pharaoh moved together in sync, both hoping to extend this first and last time together as long as possible. But with all inevitable ends, the end came with both souls whispering each other's name into another kiss.

The Pharaoh carefully lifted Yugi up and off of him before setting down his exhausted partner on the bed. He then grabbed the sheets at the end of the bed and wrapped them around Yugi, tucking them around Yugi. Yugi opened his eyes blearily and watched as the Pharaoh got off the bed and redressed, somehow able to figure out which items of clothing belonged to him versus Yugi with ease. Lastly, after pulling on his Millennium Puzzle and setting its counterpart by its owner's hand, the Pharaoh leaned back onto the bed and pressed a tender kiss to Yugi's sleepy brow. "I have to go and prepare my deck now, aibou," whispered the Pharaoh.

Yugi turned his head and pulled the Pharaoh's head back down for one last passionate kiss with tears forming in his eyes again. Finally, when the need to breath became inevitable, Yugi broke off the kiss and mirrored the kiss the Pharaoh had pressed to his brow by giving him one of his own. "I know," answered Yugi in a quiet whisper.

But the two of them remained in the same position, fingers interlocked and foreheads held against each other for several silent moments. Finally, Yugi released the grip he had around the Pharaoh's neck and leaned back onto the bed, fingers still tangled with his darker half. "I love you. Wait for me, mou hitori no boku..." declared Yugi.

The Pharaoh gave his lighter half one last loving smile before announcing, "And I love you. I'll wait for you, aibou..." The Pharaoh gave their interlocked fingers one last comforting squeeze before letting go and stepping off the bed. Without turning back to look at Yugi once more, the Pharaoh headed to the door of his soul room, pausing only once with his hand on the door handle, before firmly opening the door and leaving.

Yugi watched his darker half leave silently before finally releasing one loud sob when the room was emptied. But Yugi shook his head and wiped away his tears with the bed sheets. Yugi wasn't the same person as he was years before, and like the ancient Pharaoh he had fallen in love with, Yugi vowed to face the Pharaoh in the Ceremonial Duel with enough courage to win.

However, what Yugi didn't know was that the Pharaoh had broken down in tears after finishing his deck as the Egyptian sun rose over the final battle ground that would declare their end.

* * *

Well that was about the longest, and probably most difficult, one-shot I ever wrote. This one-shot has probably been in the works for about 6 – 7 years since the end of Yugioh. Of course, back then I wasn't a very good writer (still probably not either) and I _definitely_ could not write that final scene between Yami Yugi and Yugi. But I was recently watching some old episodes of Yugioh over the Christmas Break and I was reminded how _ridiculously slashy/yaoi-esque_ Yami Yugi and Yugi were with each other (damn it, it's canon!). That of course reminded me of this plot that I had wanted to write, so I wrote it. It ended up being _far_ longer than I anticipated. I enjoyed writing it though. Now for some notes:

Throughout this one-shot, I never call Yami Yugi either 'Yami Yugi' or 'Yami'. In the Japanese anime, I don't ever recalling anyone actually calling Yami Yugi by that name actually (correct me if I'm wrong). Generally, they refer to him as 'Yugi' or even 'Pharaoh'. As a result, I kept that same speech pattern in this one-shot, though I do remember reading 'Yami Yugi' in the Japanese manga. The name 'Yami' is purely fandom although someone told me they used that in the American English Dub. To differentiate from the Yami Yugi we usually see versus the Yami Yugi we saw in the Memory arc as Pharaoh, I refer to the past memory as Atem exclusively.

The opening scene of this one-shot's dialogue is directly from the Japanese anime, episode 220. I did my best translating it, but there are just some things you can't really translate from Japanese to English without it sounding ridiculous due to different speech patterns and colloquialisms.

Anzu was a character I sort of bashed in this one-shot. I'm not a fan of her and quite frankly, her indecisiveness and lack of duelling skills made me wonder what was the point of her character. If she was supposed to be a love interest for Yugi and/or Yami Yugi, then she failed miserably at that since there were more romantic hints canonically about Yugi and Yami Yugi than her with either of them (Japanese version of Doma arc, no _seriously_). In the manga especially, she is portrayed as being very selfish and manipulative, which I really didn't like. Oh! And she made a bunch of annoyingly repetitive speeches in the anime. Like I said, not a fan of her, and I apologise to anyone who is a fan of her.

Yami Yugi said he speculates Yugi would look like him in a few more years, which in Yugioh GX is actually confirmed. However, Yugioh GX is about a decade or more after the Ceremonial Duel, so Yugi is about late twenties to early thirties (Kaiba too, but he pretty much looks the same as always). We never learn how old Atem was when he died nor what age Yami Yugi is supposed to be a representation of, but it is implied Yami Yugi is older than Yugi, as reflected by the older Yugi in GX. On another completely unrelated note, Yugioh 5D's is annoying me since they never allude to the original Yugioh! If Ushio is still alive, then Yugi, Kaiba, Jounouchi, etc. should all still be alive since they're all about the same age! So what, they disappeared off the face of existence in 5D's? And now we have _another _new series coming in Spring 2011, Yugioh Zexal?

Lastly, the sex scene. Sex scenes are always hard and this one isn't even my first one (the one between Johan and Judai for a two-shot I wrote for Yugioh GX is—so go check that one out)! But I think this one was the hardest to write because it is literally the _first and last_ time Yami Yugi and Yugi are together. Just trying to capture that kind of emotion without it turning into a PWP was difficult, so hopefully I captured that kind of emotion correctly.

Like I said, it was really difficult to write this one, mostly because of the emotional complexity of Yugi's and Yami Yugi's bond with each other. But, I hope you enjoyed it!

-Sailor Moonac


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